Chapter 6

6

" T ravis!" Mr. Higginbotham said as Travis walked in the community center door. Travis turned his head to the stage where Mr. Higginbotham stood with a makeshift microphone, which always made his voice sound tinny, holding up a pail that had been beautifully decorated with loads of flowers and material and other knickknacks. "You're here just in time. This is our last meal. If you want something to eat, you better pony up."

"Is it Ellen's?" he called back, grinning so that everyone would know that he was mostly joking.

He wasn't, actually. He really wanted to know if it was Ellen's, because he'd come as fast as he could, hoping that he'd be able to make it in time to bid on her bucket. He hadn't thought he was going to make it, and he had told her so, not wanting her to have her hopes up and to let her down.

It had been five years since he'd seen her, and while they spent some time texting and facetiming, it wasn't like seeing someone in person.

He couldn't wait.

But his chest deflated when Mr. Higginbotham shook his head. "Beggars can't be choosy. The bid's at ten bucks. Give me eleven, Travis. And we'll welcome you back."

He grinned and lifted his shoulder. If it was the last bucket, he wasn't going to get to eat with Ellen. She was already eating with someone else, and his eyes swept the room, trying to figure out where she was. He looked up and down the tables but didn't see her distinctive auburn hair.

No one else bid on the bucket, and he got it for the eleven dollars. It was a good thing, he supposed, since he hadn't been paying attention to the auction and had no thought to bid again if he needed to.

"All right, Travis, come on up here, pay for your food, and get your girl."

Travis turned, pulling his eyes away from the tables, still not seeing Ellen, and took one step toward the stage when his heart quit beating.

Shanna. She stood on stage, taking her bucket from Mr. Higginbotham with a happy smile as her two children stood around her legs, and Mr. Higginbotham handed it to her and nodded at Travis.

Shanna sent a knowing look in his direction, and Travis tried to return her smile. He'd avoided her as much as he could since he figured out exactly what was going on with her in high school. She was just using him. But high school was a long time ago, and surely he could have a civil meal with her now. Even if he would have preferred to be with Ellen.

Sometimes things just didn't work out the way a person wanted them to, and this was one of those times, he thought as he pulled eleven bucks out of his wallet and gave it to the lady at the table who was collecting the money.

Why couldn't Ellen's bucket have been last?

She probably would have made sure that it would have been if she had known that he was coming, if he hadn't sent that text that said that he wasn't going to make it, because he didn't want to disappoint her.

It was always easier to see what a person should have done than what a person should do.

Regardless, he turned toward Shanna, who stood at his elbow, and then looked down at the two small children beside her.

"I've heard you had some kids," he said by way of greeting.

"And hello to you too," she said, wrinkling her nose at him and giving him a sultry smile. At least he assumed that was what kind of smile it was. It was the kind of smile that a woman gave a man when she wanted him to know that she was interested in him. He'd picked that much up along with all the other things that Ford had taught him.

But he'd always been faithful to Ellen. He supposed he always would be. Except, he kind of expected her to come over and greet him when she saw him walk in.

"I guess we ought to go find a seat," he said, feeling a little more comfortable now that he was twenty-eight instead of eighteen. That was one thing that Ford's training had done, given him confidence. Confidence that he sorely lacked when he was a kid.

Not that he thought that he could handle a woman like Shanna, and he definitely didn't want to fool himself into believing that. She could make shark bait out of him, and well he knew it. But he wasn't the insecure kid he used to be, either. The one who just wanted to fit in and who fell for sultry smiles and a come-hither look from someone who was older and more popular than he was.

He took the bucket from her, careful not to brush her fingers, but offered her his arm, figuring it was the right thing to do.

"Oh. So gallant," she said, batting her eyes again.

He kind of thought she might introduce him to her kids, but she didn't. "Let's go outside. It's so hot in here," she said, fanning herself and blowing out a breath like she truly was warm.

Travis didn't want to go anywhere, and he supposed he could tell her that he'd rather sit at the tables, but it might be easier for her kids if they didn't have to be confined. Maybe there were other people who had figured the same thing and would be outside too so they wouldn't be completely alone.

"It's been so long since I've seen you. You've definitely grown up. Look at those shoulders," she said, and her frank appraisal made him uncomfortable, despite the fact that he considered himself much more capable and confident than he used to be.

Shanna reminded him of a shark even more than she used to. Which was particularly unsettling considering that her children were standing right beside them.

"So what are your kids' names?" he asked, hoping to divert her attention. A mother loved talking about her children, right? He knew that wasn't necessarily true, since his own mother had not particularly cared one way or the other about him or his two brothers. Which, with the insight that hindsight gave, probably turned out to benefit him.

If his mother had cared about him, Ford Hansen might not have taken him under his wing, and Travis might not have been given the opportunities that he had been. He wouldn't be twenty-eight, with enough money in the bank to purchase his own ranch out of pocket, as well as investing in a property and family that was going to benefit the entire community, if he and Ford had figured right.

"Enzo and Atlas," she said, and her tone was dismissive. It reminded him a good bit of his mother's voice when she talked about her children. Maybe that wasn't fair, since his mother had been an alcoholic and an occasional-to-often drug user as well. As far as he knew, that did not describe Shanna, although he hadn't been in town for five years, and a lot could have changed in that time.

"Hey there, guys," he said, assuming those were boys' names. He wasn't quite sure from the length of the hair on both of the kids what gender they were. It used to be it wasn't hard to tell, but nowadays, it was dangerous to make an assumption.

She didn't say which one was which, but the smaller one hid further behind her leg while Shanna used her hand to try to drag him away from her and make him walk beside her. She yanked on it a bit, and Travis cringed.

He didn't have any experience with small children, other than raising his brothers, who weren't that much younger than him, and he couldn't remember how they were at that age.

Of course, Ellen's sister and brother were exceptions. He'd been around her, and them, but he'd never watched them without Ellen.

Kids were a mystery to him, as were women for the most part. He'd kept his nose to the grindstone and learned what he could about business, keeping his thoughts focused on Ellen any time he was tempted to think about a woman, and he had to admit, that was quite often.

Opening the door, he held it while Shanna gave him one last grin and then swept through, practically dragging her child behind her while the other one tripped at her heels.

He walked out into the dark night, the air cool, but not cold. Although, coming from Brazil, where he'd been, he was used to subtropical weather. North Dakota would take a bit of getting used to again, but he was happy to be home.

Not quite as happy as he had intended to be, because he had expected his evening was going to be spent with Ellen, not Shanna.

"We'll just go over here," Shanna said, walking confidently toward the swing set and picnic table that sat beside it.

"I said no!"

A woman's voice carried clearly over the night air, and Travis stopped as the hair on the back of his head lifted. That sounded like Ellen.

"I heard you, and I just figured you didn't really mean it."

"I meant it. We're not going to have this argument every day. You can get that straight right now."

"You're mine, fair and square."

"I know, but there are certain things even you cannot get away with."

He was sure it was Ellen's voice. He didn't recognize the man, but from the conversation it sounded like…Ellen was married? How else could she be "his?"

But wouldn't Ellen have told him if she'd gotten married?

He stopped thinking about that as he heard a bit of a scuffle. Forgetting completely about Shanna, he turned toward the source of the voices.

"Let go!" It was Ellen's voice again.

"We're gonna get this straight right now," the man's voice said, and far from the indulgent tones of earlier, he sounded angry, threatening.

That made Travis walk faster, and their shapes came into sight.

There was a pole light as a backdrop, so there was a good bit of shadow, but there was no doubt it was Ellen, and while he knew that this was not a place for her to bring her dog, he was slightly surprised that Chewy wasn't there. This wouldn't be happening if Chewy had been around. Chewy was not an aggressive dog, but she would absolutely not allow a strange man to take hold of her mistress like that. Except, maybe Chewy didn't regard him as a strange man. Maybe Chewy knew exactly who this man was. If it was the way it sounded, and he was Ellen's…husband.

How could she do this to him? How could she get married without even saying anything? His heart squeezed as he thought about all the dreams he'd dreamed about the two of them together.

He thought that he'd been clear about what his intentions were, but it had been ten years ago, and he hadn't even seen her for five. She didn't know that he had come home a year and half ago to see her.

He must have misunderstood when she told him, because he thought the trials were in Sweet Water, and he hadn't realized she was traveling for them. He didn't have the time to follow her and had left without ever telling her he'd shown up for them and to see her. They had coincided with a week that he had to be in the states, but unfortunately, he had business he had to take care of too and couldn't stay around.

Sometimes those things happened, but he'd been bitterly disappointed. So disappointed that he ended up never even mentioning it to Ellen. He felt like an idiot, knowing he must have misheard, and he also didn't want to admit how much he wanted to see her.

Now that he was listening to her and thinking that he'd missed his opportunity, he wished he would have said something, even if it felt like too big of a risk to take or not the right time. At least this pain in his heart wouldn't be so debilitating.

But, husband or no, that man had no right to treat her like that. Travis stepped closer.

"Listen here, you might think you're all high and mighty, but you're mine, fair and square, and it's about time you started acting like it." The man yanked on Ellen's arm, eliciting a gasp of pain from her.

"She said no."

Travis stepped into the circle of light, knowing that it shone directly on his face, while theirs were still in shadow, as the man's head jerked to look toward him.

"Get out of here. This is not your business."

"She said no," he said again, firmly. Letting the man know that he wasn't backing down.

"Travis?" Ellen said, a question at first, but then a smile spread over her face. And Travis almost forgot that she was standing beside her husband, who was insisting that she was his, and that she needed to act the part, or whatever he was doing.

It was enough to see her smile, to see the happiness that seeing him brought her. To feel his own happiness bubbling in his soul, although it was tempered and then almost extinguished when he remembered that she was married. He was the one who had insisted that they had to be friends. This was all his fault.

"Travis!" Shanna's voice came from behind him, sharp and annoyed. "You were supposed to follow me over to the picnic table. The kids are playing on the swing set. Get over here."

He ignored her. The man still had not let go of Ellen's arm. Irritation made Travis's fingers itchy.

"Oh my goodness! I thought you weren't going to make it!" Ellen said, and there was nothing but joy in her voice. No concern for the man holding her, no irritation, nothing except perfect happiness that he was standing in front of her. It was exactly what he would have expected from her, except what about the man?

"He didn't buy you, I did. You're staying beside me." The man spat onto the blacktop and did not let go of Ellen as she pulled, like she was going to walk toward Travis.

He bought her?

Had Ellen gotten into some kind of financial difficulty? That was so weird. Surely if she had been, he would be the first person that she'd have talked to. Her uncle could have helped, too; she wouldn't have needed to sell herself… That was so…centuries outdated. Or maybe he was just confused.

"You don't own me. That's not what that meant."

"It meant what I say it does. You obey me."

Travis's brows went up. A lot of women talked about taking the obey out of the marriage vows, and he always thought that that was un-biblical. After all, the biblical command was to obey. It was there in black and white. It wasn't that he was trying to lord it over anyone, and it actually made him feel a little uncomfortable to think that his wife was supposed to obey him, like there was something special about him that made him worth obeying. But he wasn't the Creator, he was just the creature, and to question that would be to effectively say that he knew better than God. Which he absolutely did not.

Regardless, it wasn't really his concern, and with the pain in his heart, he was almost tempted to walk away. But he could not allow a man to treat a woman like that, whether they were married or not. Although what Ellen was doing with this person, Travis did not understand. How could she have thought it was a good idea to get married to someone like that?

Maybe he had just been a very good actor while they were dating.

"It meant no such thing," Ellen said, and she sounded angrier than he'd ever heard her, even though her voice had not been raised. "Let go of my arm. Or I will walk right back in that building and make this null and void."

"You can't. You agreed to it."

"I agreed to spend the evening with you and to spend five eight-hour days with you. Doing what you want, without you touching me. Don't you remember that part?"

"No. I don't." He sneered at her, and it was obvious to Travis that he obviously did remember, he just chose to ignore it.

"The lady said unhand her."

"What are you gonna do about it?" Chalmer said.

Uh oh. That was a good question. What was he going to do about it? Travis couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten into a fight. It had been a decade.

Back in the day, he'd been a bit of a brawler, although he'd never been any good at it. He'd had a temper, a chip on his shoulder, and thought the world was against him. Ford had fixed all of that, but maybe he fixed it a little too well, considering that the idea of fighting about anything was distasteful. But the man wasn't going to manhandle Ellen. Plus, as he thought about it, he realized that they must not be married. She said something about five days, eight hours.

"You guys aren't married?" he said, figuring that probably should have been his first question.